And behold, the Lord passed by, & a great & strong wind rent the mountains & brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: & after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the eathquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: & after the fire the thin sound of silence. 1 Kings19:11 & 12

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

When I began this study I hadn't realised how highly God holds his own word. As I researched & more & more scriptures turned up I realised I hardly had to say a word because it was all there in the word. Edited because as you go along God gives you new insights on things & He was keen to point out something rather obvious that I left out. The most important reason the word is so important & so highly regarded, so to be honoured & valued, is because it became the Living Word in God's son, Jesus Christ. We dishonour the son when we don't value the Father's word as we should.

God wants his people to know His word that they might stand firm against all opposition & proclaim it boldly to those who are yet in darkness.

This is the general outline I used but bear in mind I have highlighted pertinent verses because this was for a particular people whom the Lord is preparing to proclaim His word evangelically so that He might reap a harvest unto Himself.

Opening
Prayer: Acts 4:
23~31

When
they were released they went to their friends and reported what the chief
priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God
and said, "Sovereign Lord, who
didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who by
the mouth of our father David, thy servant, didst say by the Holy Spirit, 'Why
did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the
earth set themselves in array, and the rulers were gathered together, against
the Lord and against his Anointed'-for truly in this city there were gathered
together against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever thy
hand and thy plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their
threats, and grant to thy servants to
speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretchest out thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed
through the name of thy holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed,
the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke
the word of God with boldness.

Faith begins where
the will of God is known. Knowledge of
the character of the one in whom we believe, what he has done & who he is,
is revealed in scripture

Admonition:
Colossians 3:16

Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to
the Lord

Why: Eph
4:11~16 And he gave some
to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers; for the perfecting of
the saints,
unto the work of ministering, unto the building
up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we may
be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but
speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, which is the head,
even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that
which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each
several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in
love.

What: Eph 5:26 Husbands, love
your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it
that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the
washing of water with the word,

[WHY]
that he might
present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Our Weapon: Hebrews 4:12 For the word
of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Against
Satan

Our example Christ

Matthew 4 Starting
verse 1

Three times Jesus
reiterates It is Written & quotes
the relevant scripture

Hinderances:

Unforgiveness Mark
11:22~26

Not walking in
love Galatians 5:6

Breaking natural
lawsPhilipians 2:26~30

Marital problems 1
Peter3:7

Unbelief Mark 6:5

Not maintain the
right mental attitude Ephesians 4:22~24

Teaching: James 5

13 Is anyone among you in trouble?
Let them pray.Is anyone happy? Let them sing
songs of praise.14 Is anyone
among you sick? Let them call the eldersof the church to pray over them and
anoint them with oilin the name of the Lord.15 And the prayer offered in
faithwill make the sick person
well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be
forgiven.16 Therefore confess your sinsto each other and pray for each
other so that you may be healed.The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are.He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the
land for three and a half years.18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced
its crops.

19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the
truthand someone should bring that person back,20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way
will savethem from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Galatians 6:10
refers to us as the Household of Faith

Romans 1:17

... For
in it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith:
as it is written, The just shall live by faith. ...

Repeated in
Hebrews Galatians, Habakkuk, Zachariah Ezekiel

So then, as we
have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially
toward them that are of the household of the faith.

Prayer
of faith
[hebrew 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.

Considerations:

Don’t ask amiss

changes things, not people

BUT

Can have the things God desires for
us to have.

Can pray that God’s best will be
done in someone’s life.

Can pray that God’s will be done.

A righteous
person is someone who has submitted to God’s will, thus positioned themselves
in a condition of being right with God.
Knowing the word of God, activates our faith because faith
comes by hearing & hearing by the word of God

3 Elements of
effective prayer: according to James 5

The word of God

The Name of
Jesus

The Holy Spirit

[Romans 8:26]And in like manner the Spirit also
helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit
himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered;

The word is to be applied, for we are to be not just hearers of the word but doers also. The word is a tool to help us walk out our Christian faith but it is only any good to us if we actually know it & apply it!